Pelva Naik

Dhrupad Vocal

4 minute read

Pelva Naik is one of India’s finest young Dhrupad vocalists. She is also one of the few women who sing the style, but believes that “gender dissolves once the tanpura starts”. Born into a Mumbai family of dancers, writers, and filmmakers, she studied a wide variety of creative forms as a child, including kathak, khayal, miniature painting, and literature in Hindi, Gujarati, and English.

At age 17 she found an instant bond with Dhrupad when Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar gave a workshop at her school (“it matched my element…like a rediscovery”). She soon became his disciple, as well as receiving instruction from Dagarvani veena maestro Ustad Bahauddin Dagar, and after school went to study full-time at the Panvel Dhrupad Gurukul. Today she continues to build a highly impressive performance resume as well as nurturing a passion for teaching.

She is keen to remind listeners that gender has always been more of a barrier to worldly success than to mastery of the music itself: “I still haven’t figured out [why] people say that Dhrupad is a masculine art form, or where that idea comes from…It’s just that on the public platform, men had more exposure…Ustad’s grandmother was a veena player. She used to practice veena at home, and teach the children”.

Pelva Naik made a memorable debut at Darbar Festival in 2015, performing alongside Prathap Awad, captivating audiences with her refined dhrupad artistry. She returned in 2017 for a special performance at Darbar’s Ravenna Festival in Italy, where she collaborated with rudra veena maestro Ustad Bahauddin Dagar and percussionist Surdarshan Chana, delivering a deeply meditative and immersive musical experience.

“I think it is the matter of least concern as to which gender pursues dhrupad more and which less. The concern is how true the individual singer/musician is towards the art form.”

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Pandit Ram Mallick & Samit Mallick | Dhrupad | Full Concert

Recorded at Darbar Festival 2017, on 11th November, at Lilian Bayliss Studio, Sadler's Wells, London. Musicians: - Pandit Ram Kumar Mallick (Dharbanga Dhrupad) - Samit Mallick (Dharbanga Dhrupad) - Surdarshan Chana (Jori) - Seetal Dhadyalla (Tanpura) - Keertan Reha (Tanpura) The Darbhanga tradition of dhrupad gayaki combines melody, rhythm and poetry to create a powerful style. It follows two schools of dhrupad syllables - the Khandarvani and Gauharvani that synthesize the poetry and melody into an astounding interpretation of dhrupad through intense rhythmic elaboration. Pandit Ram Kumar Mallick and Samit Mallick are leading exponents of this gharana. In this Director’s Cut concert, they present two morning ragas – Lalit and Bhairav. Lalit is elaborated with a patient alap that gradually reveals its texture, first in the lower octave and then unfolds one note at a time over the middle octave. With a combination of Khandarvani and Gauharvani syllables, a linear pulse is introduced wherein, ample emphasis is laid on the lower tetra chord - the hot-bed on which Lalit unfurls its wings for flight. The pulse quickens, introducing the jod. Pandit Mallick’s voice has a husky charm which couples with Samit’s energy and groove to lay out an intricate design of the jhalla in Darbhanga style. Their crisp delivery of the syllables along with heavy-set and meend-based gamaks build the rendition into an intense, condensed body that embodies the raga, technique and soul in apposite measures. The composition in Lalit is set to a 12-beat cycle of Chaar taal. Surdarshan Chana joins in with a powerful and irresistibly mystique sound of the jori. His highly intuitive and poised accompaniment transforms the listener’s experience into one of transcendence. With spontaneous improvisation of the poetry around energetic rhythmic structures interwoven into the 12-beat cycle, the Mallicks make this piece immersive for the mind and soul. This is followed by a dhamar in the same raga in 14 beats. The Mallicks give a glowing and extraordinary rendition of this composition with a potent combination of diligent vocal ornamentations and laykari. The next raga, Bhairav, is first expanded in the same format as before, only this time, they stick to brevity and let go of the jhalla in the introductory section. The composition in a 10-beat cycle of Sool taal is conditioned with stately delivery of lyrics in buoyant gamaks over a primordial edifice of pure notes and dramatic delivery. Chana’s support is unfaltering and steady. He disarms with dynamism as he blends with the deeply rhythmic nature of the Darbhanga delivery and softens his thekas according to the demand of the vocals. As artistic director of Darbar Sandeep Virdee puts it, the enormity and diversity of Indian classical music is such that it is possible for us to present just the tip of the iceberg in one festival. But the highly evolved and remarkably transcendental Dhrupad is the genre that steals everyone’s heart every year.